Ruthenium complexes alkenes

The significant potential of the ruthenium complex 65 was further underlined in the catalytic asymmetric ring-opening/cross metathesis of the cyclic alkene 70 (Scheme 44). This transformation is catalyzed by 5% mol of 65 at room temperature, in air, and with undistilled and nondegassed THF to deliver the corresponding diene 71 in 96% ee and 66% isolated yield. In standard conditions (distilled and degassed THF), the alkene 70 reacts in 75 min to give the diene in 95% ee and 76% yield, with only 0.5 mol % of catalyst. 

Other transition-metals have also been used. For example, Trost183 reported that heating a 1 1 mixture of 1-octene and 1-octyne in DMF-water (3 1) at 100°C with a ruthenium complex for 2 h generated a 1 1 mixture of two products corresponding to the addition of the alkene to the acetylene (Eq. 3.47). The presence of a normally reactive enolate does not interfere with the reaction. 

As invented by Wender,196,197 a variant of the second transformation can take place if the alkene partner is substituted by a participating group such as a strained cyclopropyl or a cyclobutanone (in the case of a 1,6-diene).198 The whole process, which mainly relies on the use of rhodium or ruthenium complexes,1 9 results in the formal... 

Alkynes often react with similar efficiency at room temperature (RT) in minutes. Treatment of the identical tethered alkene-VCP with a ruthenium catalyst leads to the formation of (1-3 6,7- 7-cyclodecadienyl)ruthenium complex (Equation (3)).36... 

Addition of disulfides to carbon-carbon double bonds is catalyzed by ruthenium complexes (Equation (71)).204 Even relatively less reactive dialkyl disulfides add to norbornene with high stereoselectivity in the presence of a catalytic amount of Cp RuCl(cod). Diphenyl disulfide adds to ethylene and terminal alkenes under identical conditions (Equation (72)). 

Intermolecular enyne metathesis has recently been developed using ethylene gas as the alkene [20]. The plan is shown in Scheme 10. In this reaction,benzyli-dene carbene complex 52b, which is commercially available [16b], reacts with ethylene to give ruthenacyclobutane 73. This then converts into methylene ruthenium complex 57, which is the real catalyst in this reaction. It reacts with the alkyne intermolecularly to produce ruthenacyclobutene 74, which is converted into vinyl ruthenium carbene complex 75. It must react with ethylene, not with the alkyne, to produce ruthenacyclobutane 76 via [2+2] cycloaddition. Then it gives diene 72, and methylene ruthenium complex 57 would be regenerated. If the methylene ruthenium complex 57 reacts with ethylene, ruthenacyclobutane 77 would be formed. However, this process is a so-called non-productive process, and it returns to ethylene and 57. The reaction was carried out in CH2Cl2 un-... 

Ruthenium complexes are active hydrogenation catalysts for the reduction of dienes to monoenes. Both zerovalent and divalent ruthenium complexes containing various (alkene, diene and phosphine) ligands have been employed as catalysts that have met with different degrees of success. 

Unfunctionalized alkenes have posed more of a problem, as they have no polar moiety which can coordinate to the catalyst. Such an additional metal binding site next to the C = C bond has proven to be crucial for directing coordination to the catalyst and, therefore, rhodium and ruthenium complexes, which are highly selective for functionalized alkenes, generally provide only low enan-tioselectivity for this class of substrates. 

Far more ruthenium-complex-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation has been directed towards ketone reduction rather than alkene reduction. Recent studies carried out on the mechanism of C=C hydrogenation has been rather limited. 

Ruthenium complexes B also undergo fast reaction with terminal alkenes, but only slow or no reaction with internal alkenes. Sterically demanding olefins such as, e.g., 3,3-dimethyl-l-butene, or conjugated or cumulated dienes cannot be metathesized with complexes B. These catalysts generally have a higher tendency to form cyclic oligomers from dienes than do molybdenum-based catalysts. With enol ethers and enamines irreversible formation of catalytically inactive complexes occurs [582] (see Section 2.1.9). Isomerization of allyl ethers to enol ethers has been observed with complexes B [582]. 

Despite this seminal work, it has only been recently that these metallacumulenes have really emerged as useful catalyst precursors or catalyst intermediates in organic synthesis. In particular, significant advances have been made in the field of alkene metathesis and propargylation reactions using mainly ruthenium complexes. A survey of this chemistry is presented in the following section. 

Although the chiral ketoiminatomanganese(lll) complexes were reported to catalyze the asymmetric aerobic alkene epoxidations, an aldehyde such as pivalaldehyde is required as a sacrihcial reducing agent. Groves reported that the dioxo(porphyrinato)ruthenium complexes 31, prepared with m-chloroperoxyben-zoic acid, catalyzed the aerobic epoxidation without any reductant. " On the basis of these reports, Che synthesized the optically active D4-porphyrin 35 and applied it to the truly aerobic enantioselective epoxidation of alkenes catalyzed by the chiral frani-dioxo (D4-porphyrinato)ruthenium(Vl) complex. The dioxoruthenium complex catalyzed the enantioselective aerobic epoxidation of alkenes with moderate to good enantiomeric excess without any reductant. In the toluene solvent, the turnovers for the epoxidation of T-(3-methylstyrene reached 20 and the ee of the epoxide was increased to 73% ee. 

After extensive screening of various aldehydes to optimize the reaction conditions, it was found that aromatic aldehydes were able to serve as a carbon monoxide source, in which the electronic nature of the aldehydes is responsible for their ability to transfer CO efficiently [24]. Consequently, aldehydes bearing electron-withdrawing substituents are more effective than those bearing electron-donating substituents, with pentafluoro-benzaldehyde providing optimal reactivity. Interestingly, for all substrates tested the reaction is void of any complications from hydroacylation of either the alkene or alkyne of the enyne. Iridium and ruthenium complexes, which are known to decarboxylate aldehydes and catalyze the PK reaction, demonstrated inferior efficiency as compared to... 

Ruthenium complexes catalyse the two main oxidative reactions for alkenes those in which oxygen atoms or hydroxyl groups span the erstwhile double bond without C=C rupture (e.g. epoxidation, ctT-dihydroxylation, ketohydroxylation), and cleavage reactions in which the C=C bond is broken. Although RuO has recently been shown to be effective for c/x-dihydroxylation and ketohdroxylation, epoxidations are in general effected by Ru complexes of lower oxidation states, while RuO excels at cleavage reactions. 

In 1998 it was revealed that allenylidene-ruthenium complexes, arising simply from propargylic alcohols, were efficient precursors for alkene metathesis [12], This discovery first initiated a renaissance in allenylidene metal complexes as possible alkene metathesis precursors, then it was observed and demonstrated that allenylidene-ruthenium complexes rearranged into indenylidene-ruthenium intermediates that are actually the real catalyst precursors. The synthesis of indenylidene-metal complexes and their efficient use in alkene metathesis are now under development. The interest in finding a convenient source of easy to make alkene metathesis initiators is currently leading to investigation of other routes to initiators from propargylic derivatives. 

Allenylidene-Ruthenium Complexes as Alkene Metathesis Catalyst Precursors the First Evidence... 

Alkene metathesis, promoted by the allenylidene-ruthenium complexes, was revealed in the RCM of diallyl tosylamide [12]. The first studies showed some significant influences [31, 32]. 

Indenylidene-Ruthenium Complexes the Alkene Metathesis Catalytic Species from Allenylidene Ruthenium Complexes... 

Two observations initiated a strong motivation for the preparation of indenylidene-ruthenium complexes via activation of propargyl alcohols and the synthesis of allenylidene-ruthenium intermediates. The first results from the synthesis of the first indenylidene complexes VIII and IX without observation of the expected allenylidene intermediate [42-44] (Schemes 8.7 and 8.8), and the initial evidence that the well-defined complex IX was an efficient catalyst for alkene metathesis reactions [43-44]. The second observation concerned the direct evidence that the well-defined stable allenylidene ruthenium(arene) complex Ib rearranged intramo-lecularly into the indenylidene-ruthenium complex XV via an acid-promoted process [22, 23] (Scheme 8.11) and that the in situ prepared [33] or isolated [34] derivatives XV behaved as efficient catalysts for ROMP and RCM reactions. 

Actually, applications of indenylidene-ruthenium complexes for alkene metathesis were reported before, at a time when the action mode of their ruthenium allenylidene precursors was not known. These complexes catalyzed a variety of RCM reactions of dienes and enynes [31, 32, 47] (see Section 8.2.2). 

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